Now and then a gig creeps up on you, one you have been looking forward to it, but has been slightly under your radar, life takes over and the night arrives without you really realising it. You’re expecting a good performance, but then the band strike up the first chords…
Last night was a case in point, The Armory Show (not a mis-spell) surpassed all expectations, speaking to several others after the gig, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
Mystify
It had already been a week of revelations and back stories. Having already attended a preview of Mystify, a revealing documentary about INXS frontman, the charismatic Michael Hutchence, which filled in several blanks, revealing the tragic events which subsequently led to his behaviour changes and triggered the chain of events that led to his sad and untimely death.
The absence of a support band in King Tuts allowed the Armory Show and Skids effusive frontman Richard Jobson to share some tales, mixing the humorous and the sombre, being honest and open (certainly no love lost between he and Russell Webb) and answering questions from the audience.
Armo(u)ry Show…
The question over the bands name was answered too, The Armory Show was Jobson’s desired name for the band originally but was outvoted by the other members and they added the “u”. Jobson’s stories are always captivating and never simple, as he weaves the tales and draws you in, The Armory Show name came from a story involving links with Joy Division and writing poetry, based on The Armory Show art exhibition on Lexington Avenue, for a release on Les Disques de Crepuscule. Now was his chance to re-birth the name. If you want to read more about the band, you can pre-order his limited-edition hardcover book due out next year.
Back to the band and their music. The Armoury Show never really set the heather on fire, Jobson explaining that they went for the money rather than the label that loved the music and would spend time promoting them, despite releasing a highly creditable album, involving the virtuoso guitar work of John McGeoch. I didn’t see the band live at the height of their relatively limited success, so I’ll be honest and say I didn’t have a bar to set the performance against, but I wouldn’t be lying in saying that the band the garrulous frontman gathered together blew me away.
If there was such a thing as heaven and an afterlife, I’m sure McGeoch would have been doffing his cap in approval, Domiciles pair Rory Cowieson and Nick Young are tremendous guitarists (check out their incredible debut album This is Not a Zen Garden), their intense and studied performance was faultless. The power and depth of the tracks in the live arena was so much more than I expected from the sum of the parts on the album.
Phenomenal
The credit doesn’t just go out to the phenomenal layered guitars though, the rhythm section played their part too, some thumping powerhouse drumming from Nick Hernandez (Foreign Fox) and solid intricate bass playing from Gil Allan (White China) completed the line-up. Add to that Jobson’s distinctive vocal, which was full-bodied and robust tonight, filled with a burning passion. The sonorous wall of sound coming from Tuts small stage was complete.
The band in its original format was short lived, so as expected, the 11-track set were all crowd pleasers drawn as they were from their limited output. Basically, the Waiting for the Floods album. Every track was treated with a certain care and respect by the collective band members, but at the same time holding nothing back and giving an unforgettable performance. Every track was greeted with enthusiasm by the rapt audience, all, of them there to revel in the glory of Waiting for the Floods and none going away disappointed.
Fuck the dissenters
In the run up to the gig, there were the usual dissenting, moaning voices, from the “I was there from the start” cliques. Is this a tribute band, and it can’t be The Armo(u)ry Show without McGeoch came the pathetic cries from the old punks chucking their toys out of the pram. Probably the same people that have endless arguments about what is and isn’t punk. Yawn. Well, all I can say is, fuck them all, they can live in their little bubbles and fire out their little spiteful diatribes all they want, at they end of the day, it was their loss. Those of us that are open-minded and prepared to live in the now, and not content to wallow in past glories were treated to a consummate performance by an eminently talented group of musicians.
The Armoury Show is dead? Long live The Armory Show!
Great review & great gig.